The New Ship
'''The New Ship '''is the seventh episode of the first season. This was an episode that many have forgot about, and was a very disturbing episode. There were two different versions of the episode, one that aired in Irontown, and the other that aired everywhere else. This episode was rather controversial, almost as much as the Screaming Episode. Irontown Version The episode begins with the normal theme song, and introduction. After the theme song is over, the episode cut to black, for about two minutes before the episode starts. As if nothing from episode six had ever happened, the Laughingstock is seen sailing on the sea. It then cuts to a dark room, and you the ocean is heard outside of the room. A figure is clearly seen staring at the camera. Although the figure is not recognizable, it is noticeable that it was not in any episodes before this. The camera then turns away from the strange figure, and screaming, crying, moaning, etc is heard. Sometime later, the Skin-Taker is heard, talking to the camera. Although it is unclear what he is saying, he sounds like he is being tortured. The episode then cuts to black, for five minutes. Then, it cuts to a shot of the woods, where in front of the camera is a figure. The figure looks the same as the one from the dark room scene; it has a strange, brown mask on. For nearly one minute, it just stands there, staring at the camera. Suddenly, it runs up to the camera and shifts its position to show a man, tied up in a chair. The figure goes over to the man, and starts threatening him with a knife. After two minutes of torture, the figure begins to stab and cut the man. Once forty-two seconds of this go by, the episode cuts to black, for around one minute, then the credits started to roll. The rest of the episode, after the credits, is just black. Alternative Version The crew of Laughingstock try to rebuild their ship. Poppy, briefly cursing (the cursing was later removed in re-runs), swears that when he gets his hands on Skin-Taker, he will make him pay, "and Skin-Taker 'ill wish 'e 'ad ne'er come to Candle Cove." At one point, Poppy is shown sharpening a knife. When Janice asks what he is planning, Poppy tells her he does not wish to plague her innocent mind, " 'ore than it 'as alrea'y been plagued". Percy mentions that Poppy is very extreme when he is angry. He then tells Janice that the Skin-Taker used to have skin, until Poppy got a hold of him. "He tied 'im up, and removed Skin-Taker's skin to avenge all those who had been killed and skinned by Skin-Taker," Percy explains. "He meant to kill him, but it turns out people from the Abyssimal kingdom don't die. We don't know if Skin-Taker knows if it was Poppy who did it." At this point, it shows a flashback of Percy watching a much younger version of Poppy without his Tricorn hat, but still wearing the Polka-dot bandana, and with much shorter hair. Poppy puts on the brown mask, which Percy mentions he used to conceal his identity, and sneaks into Skin-Taker's hide-out. At this point Poppy shows up, enraged, and shouts at Percy, telling him to stop because he was going to give Janice nightmares. Percy cowers, but Janice boldly stands up for Percy, saying that she should be allowed to know about the crew, and that Percy was merely telling her what Poppy refused to. She accuses Poppy of not being honest with her, and Percy has to cover her mouth just before she finishes accusing Poppy of being no better than the Skin-Taker. Poppy is evidently hurt by her unfinished comment, and leaves to be by himself, and ponder his past actions. The crew continues to rebuild Laughingstock. Meanwhile, Poppy has flashbacks of the incident, showing clips from the Irontown version of the episode. At one point, some Coral people start chewing on his arm, and Poppy smashes them. As he smashes them, they scream, and Poppy begins to have flashbacks of the Skin-Taker begging him to stop. This is too much for Poppy, who leaves the area and begins to sob. Eventually, Poppy apologizes to Janice, asking if she can ever forgive him. The credits suddenly roll before Janice gives her answer (it is believed her answer was cut because of time constraints). Connection Most fans agree that the figure in the Irontown version of the episode, was, in fact, Poppy in his younger years, and the man he tortured was Skin-Taker before he lost his skin. The reasons for why two versions of the episode were aired are unclear, as are the means of showing both from the same station. Some have attributed it to a SEBTAW experiment, or a broadcasting error, but this is unofficial. It is generally known that episodes aired in Irontown a few days before airing in other areas, so it is possible (though unlikely) that last minute changes were made due to negative reactions from parents. Most agree that the Irontown version should never have aired, and it was never rerun on television. Other notes *Some fans believe this was actually the first appearance of the character Thade Soben, who would not be used again until the novel series. Category:Episodes